"In our libraries, our
schools, our universities, and throughout our communities, we have the responsibility to
ensure that all Americans can get online and get healthy."
—Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services
"Emerging communication tools, such as
the Internet, telecommunications, digital and satellite communications, can help us spread
the prevention message and promote health in ways that previous generations could only
dream of."
- David Satcher, Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General
"We hear a lot about how
managed care is changing our health care system. What we don't hear is how consumers
themselves are changing it. They are increasingly active in managing their own health and
medical care. More and more, they are turning to the Internet to get the information they
need. This conference makes an important contribution to our understanding [of] these
dynamic developments."
—Vice President Al Gore
"When users are basing
their healthcare decisions on knowledge gained on the Internet, it becomes critical that
the information they receive is reliable. Consumers need to learn the difference between
the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to Internet health information -
healthfinder® now offers the essentials for "smart Web surfing" - a driver's
manual for the health information superhighway."
- Mary Jo Deering, Partnerships and healthfinder® Senior Spokesperson
"Much remains to be
done to fully harness the power of information technology to facilitate linkages between
public health and clinical care. While these needs are widely recognized, and some systems
have been developed, many of the potential benefits of information technology remain
elusive or are unevenly distributed."
- Mary Jo Deering, Partnerships and healthfinder® Senior Spokesperson
"We should go forward with
all the effectiveness of the interactive media, instead of just going forward with
particular information. The key is research in the area of health care services."
—Lisa Simpson, Acting Administrator, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
"The benefits of online
services are less emergency room visits, less physician visits, and greater negotiation of
doctors with skills."
—Tom Ferguson, Senior Associate, Harvard Center for Clinical Computing
"When you have a site
that's out there competing for attention, you have a lot of noise to rise above."
—Michael S. Brown, President and Principal Associate, MSB Associates
"The future is owned by
those who improve cost and quality."
—Charles L. Jacobson, Executive Vice President, Premier, Charlotte, NC
"The community is in fact
the patient—all the individuals working together."
—Caswell A. Evans, Assistant Director of Health Services, Director of Public
Health Initiatives, Department of Health Services, Los Angeles County, CA
